Election Endorsements 2020

Oh, good grief, it's that time of the year again, where I make endorsements with select election campaigns throughout the country.  Quite frankly, I don't know why I do this every year, because I could count the Republicans I've endorsed on this blog in recent elections on zero fingers.  Nevertheless, there are some Democrats I'm particularly interested in seeing win on November 3, and I want to highlight their various candidacies.  So here I go:

For President of the United States: This blog endorses Joe Biden.  Was there any doubt?  Not only will he effectively crush COVID-19 and end the pandemic in America, he'll rebuild our economy and infrastructure.  Also, there are all of these other reasons that I stipulated on this blog back in November 2019.

For U.S. Senate, Arizona: This blog endorses Mark Kelly, a true man of integrity with a record of service to our country as an astronaut and a real American hero.  Incumbent Republican senator Martha McSally is a conservative hack.

For U.S. Senate, North Carolina:  This blog endorses Cal Cunningham.  Because not only is he a nice guy, I believe that truthfully admitting to an extramarital affair and apologizing for it is far better than downplaying COVID-19 and then getting infected with it and acting like it's no big deal, which is what happened to Cunningham's opponent, Republican incumbent senator Thom Tillis.

For U.S. Senate, Maine: This blog endorses Sara Gideon.  I've heard rumors of both Trump and Biden showing cognitive disorder, but I would have to guess that there is something wrong with incumbent U.S. Senator Susan Collins' ability to think critically when she thinks Trump has been humbled by his impeachment and when she votes for Supreme Court nominees like Brett Kavanaugh.

For U.S. House of Representatives, Florida, 23rd U.S. House District: Incumbent Democrat Debbie Wasserman Schultz was challenged by progressive Democratic opponent Jen Perelman, a noted supporter of Bernie Sanders, Medicare for all and the Green New Deal, in the district primary but won renomination anyway.  This blog endorses Jen Perelman as a write-in candidate.  Because I can't stand Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

For U.S. Senate, Arkansas:  Incumbent Republican Senator Tom Cotton's only opponent in his bid for re-election is a Libertarian candidate, Ricky Dale Harrington Jr.  This blog endorses Ricky Dale Harrington, Jr.  Because even a Libertarian who wants to reduce government to just the military and the post office is preferable to Tom Cotton.

For U.S. Senate, Alabama: This blog endorses Doug Jones for a full six-year term.  No, he's probably not going to win, but he's a decent guy and he deserves a full term.

For U.S. Senate, Kentucky: This blog endorses Amy McGrath.  Because she's running against Mitch McConnell.  The end.

For Township Council, West Caldwell, New Jersey: I live in West Caldwell, though I will never reveal my exact address here.  Anyway, this blog endorses Jessica Almeida and Christy Lazarow, the first two Democrats running for the all-Republican West Caldwell Township Council in years.  They're running to bring more transparency to municipal government and redevelop the township to make it look more like a real town, with walkable streets and a real downtown area, than the ad hoc collection of suburban development pods it currently is.  And NJ 11th For Change, the local liberal-activist group in my U.S. House district, endorses them for the same reasons.

For U.S. House of Representatives, New Jersey, 11th U.S. House District:  This blog endorses incumbent Democrat Mikie Sherrill for her commitment to reinstating the federal state and local tax deduction  and preserving the Affordable Care Act. 

This is Mikie Sherrill.

Not to be confused with Janet Evans, the Olympic swimmer she bears a resemblance to. 😃

For U.S. House of Representatives, California, 48th U.S. House District:  Although I think Janet Evans, my Olympic heartthrob, is a smart cookie who would make a great congresswoman, she's not a political person.  Therefore, this blog endorses her current congressman, Harley Rouda, because, well, he's a Democrat. 

And that's it.  Now go and vote . . . if you haven't already.

Tulsi's Out

Last week, Tulsi Gabbard finally ended her impractical residential campaign.  What was as telling as who didn't get out is who Gabbard endorsed for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination upon her exit.

Gabbard, a darling of the far left, endorsed Joe Biden for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, which is an indication that she understands how crucial it is for her party and her country to unseat Donald Trump.  Even though Bernie Sanders remains resolutely in the 2020 presidential campaign despite the fact that he can't catch up to Biden's delegate count, Gabbard, an Iraq War veteran, knows that now is not the time for a revolutionary, progressive political agenda; that can come later.  She knows in this time of a global pandemic and a need for steady leadership that we have to return to where we were before those two dual infections - COVID-19 and Trumpism - took over.  She's a patriot who put party and country over politics.  Her endorsement of Biden was her way of telling Bernie to take a hint.

In addition to being the last woman, the last person of color, and the last millennial in the 2020 Democratic presidential campaign, Gabbard, a Hawaii congresswoman, is the last candidate from the West.  So, unless Biden gets California's Kamala Harris to be his running mate (not entirely out of the question), the Democratic national ticket will once again have no candidate from the Western states.  Colorado's Gary Hart, the last Democratic presidential candidate from a Western state who had any realistic chance of winning (well, except maybe New Mexico's Bill Richardson), once said in 1987 that the West was the future of America . . . and in terms of Democratic presidential politics, it likely always will be.  Oh, well, maybe Hart, who turned 83 in November 2019, may still live to see a President from west of the Rockies.  Or maybe we can have an Elton John fan in the White House so we can have a President who's from rock of the Westies. ;-)        

Billion Dollar Babies

Tom Steyer has a billion dollars to spend on making this country a better place to live, but when his  anti-Trump impeachment campaign wasn't going anywhere, he decided to run for President after having ruled it out.

And then the impeachment inquiry happened anyway.

I won't dwell on Steyer's platform - the same Democratic talking points on education, the environment and tax fairness, plus a campaign to get big money out of politics (which he's spending big money on), because has has no chance of winning the White House.  But he did score a major victory by being instrumental in the impeachment of Donald J. Trump, and so, with the inquiry under way and promising certain impeachment, his usefulness has passed.  Go home, Tom - you've won.     

And as Steyer - now facing an embarrassing kerfuffle over a supporter of his who actually tried to buy endorsements for the candidate - Michael Bloomberg, who said he wasn't interested in running for President, is exploring a presidential run after all.

The former New York City mayor, unimpressed by the remaining Democratic presidential candidates and probably fearing a Warren nomination, is reportedly planning to run now, beginning with a filing in the presidential primary in . . . Alabama.  Leave it to a New Yorker to say, "If I can make it here, I can make it in Mobile!" But then, he may be on to something, because Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders can't make it in the nation's midsection, but now, neither can Joe Biden (relax, I'll get to him), if the polls are to be believed  - they're not, because Biden is entrenched in a statistical four-way with the other two and with Mayor Pete.  But believe this: Biden has given interviews to the press to turn things around for his campaign, but his efforts haven't satisfied anyone and he's still headed in the wrong direction.

Can you say "brokered convention," boys and girls?

Bloomberg has some solid policies on climate change, education and reproductive rights, but his billions leave him open to charges that he's trying to buy the White House.  Bernie bros will not be amused 

God knows how this is going to turn out.  Actually, God used to know, but even the Almighty Himself doesn't have a clue anymore.   

Hot Buttons

Okay, I'm going to be brief on the issues of abortion and immigration.  The Alabama abortion law (that's right, the governor of Alabama, a woman, signed it) that criminalizes all abortions except to save the mother's life is either the dumbest political move or the brightest one.   Republicans in other states are running away from this law, saying it's too extreme and doesn't offer exceptions for rape or incest (yeah, just like the 1984 Republican platform), but they must know full well that this could bring out the evangelical vote in 2020 and possibly consign the Democrats to Whig-like extinction with a GOP victory all over the political spectrum.  But it could also galvanize abortion-rights supporters into pushing back by coming out in droves to vote Democratic.  I have a feeling that the latter scenario won't happen.  (Remember the Hobby Lobby Supreme Court decision?)

And immigration?  Trump's new bill, conceived in large part by Jared Kushner, wants to bring more immigrants with skills at the expense of family reunification but does noting about the DACA immigrant children.  Republicans have dismissed this bill for letting in more legal immigrants while Democrats find the bill to be condescending toward unskilled laborers and families.  Since this plan satisfies no one, it's not going to help Trump soften his xenophobic image. Especially when he's telling migrants who are already here not to get to comfortable here.

Because of these two toxic issues, neither he nor House Speaker Nancy Pelosi can get too comfortable in their respective positions either.  For 2020, all bets are off.

Sick Policy

Up until late this past week, Democrats were worried that Donald Trump, having been non-vindicated by William Barr's non-exonerating synopsis of the Mueller report, will build his base into a formidable juggernaut by whipping up anti-Democratic (and anti-democratic) sentiment over his opponents' investigations into his international and financial dealings.  

They can rest easy now. Trump wants to dismantle the remainder of the Affordable Care Act.

Democrats won back the House and were able to prevent huge losses in the Senate while capturing seven governorships - all while emphasizing health care at a time when the Affordable Care Act has actually become quite popular.  Democrats are more than ready to let Trump try to tear the health care law out while defending it.

Of course, the Democrats could easily snatch defeat from the jaws of victory if any of the leading Democratic candidates for the Presidency advocate some form of single-payer health care system - at a time when the politics and the process to get there are non-existent - allowing Trump to bash the Affordable Care Act because some Democrats want to replace it either. At least the Democrats have something to replace it with.  Hopefully, though, they won't overreach and try to give us single-payer when it can't happen just yet.

Of course, a certain politician from Maryland suggested phasing in an all-payer approach as a way of getting to single-payer, but you know how Democrats are, they won't listen to reason within their own ranks.